CHAPTER FIVE

Inuyasha

Sakura and Ayame Tsuyotomi. Who would have thought that mere myths and legends of "nature's abominations" were actually true? It was kind of hard to believe myself. No wonder I smelled the scent of cat and dog on each of them. I was still confused as to why I hadn't thought of that before but at least now I got some answers.

I sat off in a corner of Kaede's hut and stared at my re-bandaged foot as the sisters shared their story with us. My arms were crossed inside my robe made from the hair of a fire rat and Tetsusaiga was resting on my right shoulder. Interesting enough, they too were seeking revenge on Naraku for the death of their parents and some family members.

"Maybe you two could join us." Kagome suggested.

"No way!" I blurted out before thinking twice.

"Don't be rude, Inuyasha! There's no harm in them coming with us!"

I gripped Tetsusaiga as I leaned over onto my left hand so it wouldn't slide down my shoulder. "We don't need anyone slowing us down! We're already losing valuable time as it is with my foot being messed up and you leaving for home until tomorrow."

Shippo jumped in my face and pointed a finger at me. "You're so mean!" He slapped his hand across my cheek. He was so small it didn't affect me but it still made me mad.

I snatched him up with both hands and growled in his face. He surprisingly growled back at me. "Why you little-"

"You're just mad because your stupid foot was almost burned off! Stop acting like this towards the rest of us!"

"You've gotten a little bold over the days, haven't you?" I asked in a low voice. I tossed him to the side, leaving him to roll right out of Kaede's hut and re-positioned myself as I was before.

"Humph. Come along if you want but I ain't slowing down for anyone." I closed my eyes and turned my nose at the group.

"Aren't those your spirit beads around his neck, Kaede?" I heard Sakura ask in an already knowledgeable tone.

"Yes,"

"Hm, spiritual beads around a dog demon's neck."

I narrowed my eyes at her. What was she trying to get at, exactly?

"And if I were to command him to do something to shut him up, wouldn't the correct word be 'sit'?"

The beads around my neck pulsed and slammed to the ground, pulling me down hard with them. I crashed into the boards of the hut with shock written across my face. I rolled over onto my back and groaned. "How the hell did you do that?!"

Kagome laughed. "Two people being able to do it? Great! Ayame can you do it?"

"Sit." Ayame spoke. Again, I was slammed deeper into the ground. "This is so cool."

"You two must have spiritual powers as well." Kagome was interested.

"Something like that." Ayame scratched her head. "But, our powers are a story for another time."

I sat back up and clutched the beads around my neck. "Dammit to hell, Kaede! Get rid of these stupid beads!"

Kaede shook her head. "No chance, Inuyasha. They are bound to ye just as ye are bound to them."

Sakura stood. "Well, we wouldn't dream of slowing anyone down." She grabbed a black backpack and started towards the flap of Kaede's hut. Shippo just walked back inside. "Let's go, Ayame."

"To where?" Ayame asked.

"We should really be on our way." With that, Sakura left the hut without another word.

Ayame turned to bow at us. "Sorry, everyone. She just needs some time. It's been kind of a crazy day. It was nice meeting you all."

"It's all Inuyasha's fault!" Shippo snarled at me.

"I've had just about enough of you, Shippo."

"I don't care! You should be apologizing to them."

"It's okay. I guess we'll see you guys around." Ayame left the hut.

I gave out a low huff. Me? Apologize? For what? I wasn't the one with the problem, it was that Sakura girl. If anything, she should be apologizing to me for sitting me. Speaking of, I wanted to know how the both of them were able to activate the command. It was bad enough that Kagome alone could do it!

"Inuyasha, Shippo is right." I heard Miroku say.

I rolled my eyes. "Not you, too."

"You must learn to take others feelings into consideration." He continued. "There is no harm in letting them travel with us. We all have the same goal in mind, which is to destroy Naraku. Besides, they're rumored to be two of the strongest demons walking the earth. What would be so bad about them joining us?"

Hearing him say that two girls were probably the strongest demon's walking the earth made me itch. Yeah, right. Listening to him, Kagome and Shippo grill me for my attitude was starting to actually make me feel bad, though. I guess I didn't have to say what I did, but I was just being honest. Maybe it had more to do with the way I said. I admit that I was pissed about my foot and my first encounter with Sakura. She didn't seem too happy about my interfering with her fight but how the hell did I know she could handle herself?

"Plus, more beautiful women to keep us company is beyond perfect." Miroku made an 'okay' sign with his fingers with a goofy grin on his face.

"You would say that." Sango cut her eyes at him. She moved her hand into a patting motion only to realize Kilala was no longer on her lap. "Hey, where'd Kilala go?"

Sakura

Ayame walked beside me in silence. I actually planned to go back to Kaede's before the nights end, but right now I needed fresh air. Hopefully I'd be in a better mood by tomorrow when Ayame and I would continue on our journey to seek Naraku.

That Inuyasha had some nerve talking to us the way he did and interfering with my battle against the Cyclops. Who the hell did he think he was? He was being such an asshole! His friends were nice, though. I smiled at the thought of them with warm smiles on their faces. They were so nice to Ayame and I. Deep down, I did hope to see them again. Ayame and I loved to be in each other's company but we often times wish we had friends to talk to and travel with.

"You know what, Ayame?" We reached a meadow and I lied myself down on the warm grass, taking in the suns rays. Ayame sat beside me and put her arms behind her for support.

"I know that Inuyasha pissed you off back there."

I growled low and rolled by eyes. "The correct answer to my question was 'what?'. Not the obvious."

"Just putting that out there," She threw her head back and closed her eyes with a smile.

"Hm. Well, I want to take Kagome up on her offer. Having company does seem like a weight lifter, don't you think?"

"Mhm." She hummed. "Especially since they have the same goal as us."

When she said that, I instantly thought of Naraku. The last time we saw him was the night he killed our parents. They put up a fight to protect us since we were only 10 and 12 and couldn't fully protect ourselves yet. The last words they each said to us were "protect one another" and my mother followed my father's words with "we love you". Naraku then tried to attack us and our parents both transformed into a large menacing dog and a beautifully dangerous cat with sharp fangs that stood at attention when she growled.

Knowing that their time had come to an end, they transformed to keep going strong in the last battle of their life. I held onto Ayame as we watched our father tackle Naraku to keep him from reaching us. My mother stood in front of us, her hind leg alone blocking us both from Naraku's view.

My mother gave a loud roar as our father went flying into our castles walls but quickly gaining his footage.

"Lady Akira, Lord Shinobu! I've got the children!" Kaede ran to our rescue with her black hair swaying behind her and bow and arrow in her hands.

Naraku tried to attack Ayame and I again but Kaede shot a sacred arrow through the smoke and flames in his direction and pierced his right shoulder. He cried out in pain and our parents took a few seconds to nuzzle their large noses close to Ayame and I so we could hug them one last time.

"Take good care of them, Lady Kaede." My mother requested.

Kaede nodded and gathered Ayame and I into her arms. We simultaneously turned into small kittens from fear. "I will." Kaede paused to look both of them in the eyes a moment longer and ran to exit the castle…

I stared at the dark blue sky above and a yellow butterfly fluttered in my line of vision. The cat in me lightly swatted at it, wanting to play. "Yeah," I responded to Ayame absently as the pretty insect landed on the tip of my nose. I smiled and closed my eyes as a light breeze washed over me. God, I loved nature so much. It was peaceful. Tranquil. Meditating.

"Are you doing that?" I asked my sister.

"Nope."

I heard soft footsteps and a low growl and opened my eyes and sat up to sit Indian Style, sending the yellow butterfly on its way. Sango's cat demon companion walked over to Ayame and I in her large form.

"Oh, hi, Kilala. What are you doing here?" Ayame pat her head as Kilala approached and knelt down in front of her. Kilala circled around and stretched to lie behind the both of us, as if she were protecting us, just how my mother would do sometimes, only Kilala was a lot smaller than my mother's true form.

I turned to my left and wrapped an arm around Kilala's neck and leaned into her, scratching beneath her chin. She purred and held her head up to give me better access. I rubbed my face against hers and purred with her.

"She reminds me so much of our family…so much of mom." I thought out loud.

"And we might remind her of hers. Maybe we're cousins…Well, distant cousins. The cats in our immediate family only had one tail. Kilala has two."

"Yeah. Either way, she's okay with me." My ears flickered and I pulled my face away from Kilala's. Someone was approaching.

"Sakura? Ayame?" It was Kagome, Sango and Shippo.

"Oh, there you are, Kilala." Sango said. Kilala made a low meow sound but didn't move from her spot. Sango shook her head and walked to sit on the other side of Kilala. "She's so comfortable with you guys." Kilala licked Sango's cheek and lay her head on her lap.

"Ayame seems to think we might be cousins."

"That's pretty interesting." Shippo jumped out of the basket of Kagome's bike and onto Ayame's head. She surprisingly didn't seem to mind. "We're sorry about the way Inuyasha's been acting. We hope he didn't scare you away." Shippo said apologetically.

I laughed and sucked my teeth. "Scare us away? Not in a million years. I just needed some fresh air."

"And I came to keep an eye on her. We were pretty sure we'd see you guys again." Ayame added. "Actually, we decided we'd join you on our search for Naraku."

"You will? Awesome!" Kagome gave a large smile. "I have to get going now to get more supplies. I'll see you guys bright and early tomorrow!"

"How are you getting to the present?" I asked.

"You know about the present?"

I nodded. Ayame and I left the part about us time traveling out of our story when we shared it with them. We just mentioned that we left for a while and was just now returning.

"We travel there sometimes. We use these pendants that our parents gave us." Ayame pulled hers from inside her kimono and I did the same.

Kagome gawked at the puzzle pieces of Ayame's Waning Gibbous moon and my Waxing Crescent moon. "That's so cool! I have to travel through the Bone-Eater's well." She nodded her head to the right and I looked at the well at the edge of the meadow I didn't notice before. "People used to throw demon remains down there. But I guess it's not too bad since I'm used to it. Say, do you need anything? I'm getting food, first aid supplies and stuff."

I looked to Ayame for an answer. "I think we should just go with you. I could use some things from the grocery store and an actual stove."

...

So, what I have been itching to do is post more than one chapter since I have a lot of chapters already typed and ready to go. I've been wanting to update feeling like it's been FOREVER when it's actually only been 3 days lol I just get to excited to share my work and get feedback. I haven't been getting as many reviews, but my read count has slowly been going up and that still makes me happy! It makes me even more happy when I see how big of a platform this is and I have people from Mexico, Singapore and even China reading my work! So thank you all! :D

So, if I myself feel like nothing really "happens" in a chapter, I'll most likely post more than one a day, so continue on with the next chapter! :)

Thank you to DreamRealm3 for reviewing so far! I smile so hard when I get that email saying you reviewed and when you followed my story and faved it! I love you! :)))